Catford park murder accused ‘tried to kill child’s mum’

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A man accused of beating a five-year-old boy to death in a park over a lost trainer also attacked the child’s mother, a court has heard.

Marvyn Iheanacho is accused of causing fatal head and stomach injuries to Alex Malcolm in Mountsfield Park, Catford, on 20 November last year.

The boy’s mother, Lilya Breha, told Woolwich Crown Court her partner “tried to kill” her when he returned from the park with her injured son.

Mr Iheanacho, 39, denies murder.

Giving evidence from behind a curtain, Ms Breha told the court her then-boyfriend returned to their Houslow home holding Alex “like a baby”.

‘Premeditated’

She said he gave differing accounts for her son’s “disgusting injuries”, including that he fell from a climbing frame and that he had fainted and hit his head.

After she confronted him, he “tried to strangle” her and hit her in the face with the “hardest punch I had in my life”, while her fatally injured son lay on the floor, she said.

The court heard Ms Breha had not asked Mr Iheanacho to take her son to the park.

“Just seeing what state Alex was in, I knew that he had hit him. I know whatever he did, he was doing, was premeditated,” Ms Breha said.

Jurors previously heard Mr Iheanacho “lost his temper and violently assaulted” Alex after he lost his trainer in the park.

The trial continues.